Modular floor tiles are often used as components on the construction of a flooring system. The system may be designed as a floor covering for an entire room, or a floor covering for a section if a room. The typical floor system components may be manufactured from, for example, semi-rigid, plasticized, virgin polyvinyl chloride, virgin/reclaimed polyvinyl chloride mixtures, or compression molded rubber.
The floor system is suitable to withstand inclement weather, harsh environments, heavy traffic, and resist damage when exposed to harsh chemicals. Primary uses for the modular floor tiles of the present invention include providing lateral support, and providing comfort and reduction of fatigue during walking or standing.
Various types of modular floor tiles have increased in popularity due to their versatility. A free-standing modular floor mat system typically provides a non-slip modular system that optionally is self-draining and has multiple configuration capabilities. Another demand often placed on work environments is that floor mats need to be easily configured and re-configured in the plane of a floor.
Prior art connectors for mat systems have used separate multiple connectors for attaching one modular mat to another. These separate connectors have not worked well in practice because they get lost or make alignment between adjacent mats difficult during reinstallations after lifting the modular mats out of the system.
The conventional modular floor tiles are not adjustable size-wise, which limit their usefulness with respect to custom sizes.
Some prior art floor tile provide connection devices around the periphery of the tile. In those tiles, a secure connection may be sacrificed where the tile must be trimmed. That is, modular tile systems built with these tiles do not provide a secure fitting if trimmed to adjust size.
Other prior art mats have required separate connectors, which limit their versatility. These systems have disadvantages because the connectors may get lost or make proper alignment between adjacent mats difficult during installation or reinstallation.
An example of an existing modular floor mat system is U.S. Pat. No. 6,505,444, to Johnson. The '444 patent discloses a free standing modular mat system for creating various selectable combinations of mat configurations by using first and second mats having parallel ribs on the bottom and parallel spaced ribs on the top at right angles to the bottom ribs, and having top and bottom connectors having inter-engaging mating grooves.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,304, to Austin, discloses a quadrilateral floor tile having a downward sloping edge. Two of the sides are formed with integral interlocking strips, with a cavity positioned to mate with a corresponding male connecting member of a neighboring tile.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,378, to Counsel et al., discloses a modular floor tile that may be used to construct athletic playing surfaces including basketball courts and tennis courts. These tiles comprise a top member made of relatively hard material and a bottom member made from resilient, impact absorbing material. Theses tiles comprise coupling loops about the periphery of the tile that engage posts, also located along the periphery of the tile.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,934 to Austin discloses an interlocking floor tile in the form of a right triangle, with each side having a row of female cavities located adjacent the sides and positioned to mate with a corresponding male connecting member of a neighboring tile.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,286 to Kotler discloses a modular tile for interlocking with other similar tiles that comprises a plastic support grid having a rectangular configuration bounded by a perimeter wall and including a repeating pattern of intersecting cross members with interstitial openings formed in-between. In this tile there are a plurality of support legs coupled to a base side of the cross junctions in general perpendicular orientation. Interlock structure is coupled to and extends outward from the perimeter wall to enable removable attachment with other modular tiles of similar design.
U.S. patent application Publication No. 2002/0119275 to Williamson discloses a mat system wherein the mats are comprises of a plurality if individual tiles that interlock along complementary edge portions.